Local SEO! Are You Being Found In Your Local Market?

Ed Parson, Geospatial Technologist of Google, said that 1 in 3 of the search queries has local intent and almost 50% of those searches are made using our Smartphones. 

With this in mind it is very important that you optimise your business online advertisement with your name, address, and telephone number; as well as your website URL, and any social media pages such as Google+, Facebook and Twitter. It is also a good idea to follow any reviews you may have online.

Some industries such as restaurants, hotels and resorts, tourist activities and pharmacies can gain a lot of benefits from utilising Local Search options. Customers looking for these types of businesses will use geo-localisation on their mobile devices and it's a good idea for you to make sure you have a good SEO strategy in place for local search.

We are located in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast and recently we had a client from China ring us to see if they can pop into the office to talk about an e-commerce website. They found us searching online for marketing and web design businesses within our area. You never know who is out there looking for what you have to offer. Their website is now up and running.

SO LET'S LOOK AT SOME USEFUL TIPS YOU CAN USE ON YOUR WEBSITE TO HELP WITH LOCAL SEO:

1. Keywords are always important no matter your SEO reach so make sure some of your keywords include your local area.
2. Create a domain name that reflects your business type and its location and have it redirected to your main domain name where your website sits or have your website built using this domain.
3. You can add keywords on page titles that identify with your business, its services and its location.
4. You can also incorporate your business name, address and phone number information on each individual page of your website and not just on your home page and contact us page.
5. In addition to telling customers about what you have to offer, also make sure your website copy includes as much information about your local area as possible to further associate your business with the nearby vicinity you want to be found in. For instance, note what area of town you're in, if there are any well-known attractions near your place of business, what sports team plays across the street from you, or what park or beach is around the corner or block from you. This added information will not only help improve your website content for your customers but it will also help boost your search rankings as a local business.
6. Your website is your most important and valuable asset online, so making sure that it is properly optimised to appear towards the top within search results is a key component of your SEO strategy.

NOW WE ARE GOING TO POINT OUT SOME USEFUL TIPS FOR OFF-PAGE LOCAL SEO:

1. One of the most effective strategies used to boost local SEO is to ensure the availability and consistency of your business' listing information across a number of third-party sources. Google and other search engines constantly scan these sites to develop a stronger understanding of the local web and your business within that local area. When creating your listing make sure you build it, if possible with photos, videos, website URL and other key information to make your listings more informative and attractive to your potential customers. Also make sure you list your business in the appropriate categories so it can be properly optimised.
2. Make sure you have an appropriate Link Strategy in place. Links from your website to other related websites, and vice versa, will always play a role in your business' SEO visibility, and is an important tool within the SEO strategy. These links help establish the authenticity and credibility of your business. However, unrelated links will damage your business visibility over time. A couple of things you can do is consistently share links to your website via your Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels, and encourage others to pass along the information as well. Also make sure you include links to your website in your email newsletters and any other updates to customers that you send out. You probably also email customers a lot within your work day, so it's a good idea to look at how you can utilise your signature more as well.
3. Engage with your social media visitors. Social media pages can play a role in local business' visibility in search results. The more proactive you are with your social media pages, the more likely your pages will attract followers and then in turn, appear within search results.

Competition on the internet is high so it's very important that you look at the strategies you can use to ensure you are found. If they are not clicking on your page then they are clicking somewhere else. Just because you don't have a great understanding of SEO does not mean you don't do anything about it. Talk to us today and we can help you put together an effective SEO plan to help your website climb up the search rankings